Nonstop flight route between Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Townsville, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tawau Airport (TWU), Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and Townsville Airport (TSV), Townsville, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,538 miles (or 4,085 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Tawau Airport and Townsville Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Tawau Airport and Townsville Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Tawau Airport (TWU):

• Because of Tawau Airport's relatively low elevation of 57 feet, planes can take off or land at Tawau Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The furthest airport from Tawau Airport (TWU) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Tawau Airport (meaning Tawau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,350 miles (19,875 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Tawau airport has a 2,685 m × 47 m long fully service runway, namely runway 06/24.
• However on 15 September 1995, a Malaysian Airlines Fokker 50 from Kota Kinabalu touched down 500 m before the end of the 2,200 m long runway.
• Tawau Airport handled 1,202,344 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Tawau Airport (TWU) is Nunukan Airport (NNX), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of TWU.
• In addition to being known as "Tawau Airport", another name for TWU is "Lapangan Terbang Tawau".
• Tawau Airport (TWU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The terminal is a one and a half stories building, which consists of two aerobridges, and its large apron can accommodate eight aircraft at one time.

Facts about Townsville Airport (TSV):

• The PNG PM wants a Townsville to Port Moresby route re-established by the end of 2013.
• In addition to being known as "Townsville Airport", other names for TSV include "Garbutt Airport" and "Townsville International Airport".
• Townsville Airport was the first Australian regional city airport to be granted international airport status commencing in 1980.
• In April 1980, Sir Rupert Murdoch and Sir Peter Abeles, the new owners of Ansett, were petitioning the Federal Government for international flights to begin in some regional centres of Australia.
• Because of Townsville Airport's relatively low elevation of 18 feet, planes can take off or land at Townsville Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• Townsville Airport (TSV) has 2 runways.
• Townsville Airport handled 1,644,089 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Townsville Airport (TSV) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,884 miles (19,125 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Townsville Airport (TSV) is Charters Towers Airport (CXT), which is located 63 miles (102 kilometers) SSW of TSV.
• On 13 December 2003, an "Open Day" was held for Townsville residents to view the new look airport.